Companies still sending staff to Gulf despite risks

BUSINESS travellers are still heading for the Gulf, after being given detailed security briefings and carefully prepared evacuation plans, despite the increasing threat of war with Iraq.

With so much development in the region, many UK companies are determined to try to carry on as normal.

Emirates reported a 44 per cent rise last month in passengers travelling between London and Dubai, compared with January 2002, and other carriers, including Gulf Air and Qatar Airways, have reported increased traffic levels.

Vic Sheppard, UK sales manager for Emirates, said: “The British business traveller is very resilient. So much is going on in construction and development (in the Gulf) that people are anxious not to lose out. I talk to architects, engineers, hotel furnishers, and they are…